The Right Move (Windy City, #2)

by Liz Tomforde

“You’re right.” She sighs into the phone. “Make your own goddamn dinner, Shay.” A content laugh rumbles in my chest. “There’s my girl.”

“Don’t pull that ‘I can’t spend your money’ bullshit. We both know you want to go, and you told me you were an expensive girlfriend, so prove it.” “You’re sure?” I laugh. “Stop acting like you’re not excited to spend my money. Yes, I’m sure. And pay for Stevie’s too, please. For this party, I want to be the one to buy her dress.”

“Hey, Blue, I kind of missed talking to you for three days. Let’s not do that again.” “Deal.”

I’m trying to get along with my teammates, and now I’m fighting the urge to get them all traded just from imagining you giving any of them the time of day. Jealous enough for you, Blue?

For someone who always has something to say, I like making you speechless.

I can think of another way you can make me speechless. Oh, fuck me.

I hope you and your right hand enjoy the rest of your night. See you at home, Roomie.

Daily update—this is a few days late, but I gotta tell you something. I dry-humped your brother’s leg like a dog in heat.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a little possessive, Shay?” His chest rumbles against my back in a silent laugh. “Never. But then again, no one else has ever made me feel quite as greedy as you do.”

“Just so you know,” Rio says into my ear, loud enough to hear over the music. “I’m well aware you’re using me to make him jealous and I’m perfectly okay with that.” I chuckle. “I was hoping you would be.” “Fuck it.” Rio grabs my waist, pulling me into him. “But if he hits me for this, he better at least give me an autograph too.”

“You can go,” he says to Rio, keeping his intense ocean eyes on me. Rio’s hands shoot up in surrender. “She made me do it.” “Oh, I’m well aware.”

“Sir.” Ryan leans forward to the driver. “I’m going to jump out real quick so if you could pick up speed that’d be great.”

“Do you have any pickup lines?” I quietly ask Ryan for no one else to hear. He shakes his head. “Nah. I’d rather pin you down than pick you up.”

“Ry.” I stop him at his door. He looks back to me, eyes desperate and begging. “Will you help me?” His head falls back, exhaling a sigh of relief. “Fucking finally.”

“Don’t tease me, Blue.” It’s a warning. “Fucking show me.”

“Do I want to know why I didn’t get a daily update today?” she asks, suspicion lacing her tone. “Probably for the best if you don’t ask questions.”

His warm fingers push my hair away from my face before testing the temperature of my forehead with the back of his hand. I brush him off without much authority, but he ignores me and checks again. “What are you doing here?” I ask, finally giving in and leaning into his touch. “I’m taking you home. You’re sick, Blue.” “I’m fine, and your sister is a little snitch.” He chuckles a warm laugh. “Yeah, well her stubborn best friend wouldn’t listen to her.”

“You left the house for me.” He exhales a sigh. “Yeah, I seem to do that quite a bit for you.”

“My room, please.” “No.” “Ryan, I’m still mad at you.” “Okay, you can be mad at me all you want while you sleep in my bed.”

“Indy,” he whispers from behind me. “What you offer in a relationship, as a friend, a woman, a partner, by simply being who you are is more than enough. And if someone can’t see that you’re everything, then it’s them who's missing out. I know you’re faithful. It’s one of my favorite things about you, but there has to be a limit. Some people don’t deserve your unwavering loyalty.”

“Are you faking it?” “No, Blue. I’m not faking anything.”

“I was there to see you. Believe it or not, I don’t give a shit about your boss, and I couldn’t care less who you are to anyone else. To me, you’re…well, I don’t know what you are, but you’re…important. You as a person, not the player, are important to me.”

“Look, you could be talking about anyone, and I’d just be stoked to hear you’re opening yourself up again, but with Indy?” She peeks over at me. “There’s no one I trust more to protect you as much as you’ll protect her.”

“But I spend a lot of your money.” “Someone needs to.” “And I’m messy. You don’t like messy.” “I like your mess.” “And I’m needy. I have no idea how to be alone.” “Good. I don’t want you to be alone. I want you to be with me.” His eyes fall to my throat, watching it work its way through a swallow. “Come home with me, Blue.”

“Now, please, for the love of God, kiss me.”

“Are you just pretending?” He pulls away, laughing deep and full. “I stopped pretending a long time ago, Ind.”

“I mean this in the nicest way possible, but Blue, you’re the most inconvenient thing that’s ever happened to me.” My heart flutters, words sticking in my throat. “If I was looking for convenience, I wouldn’t have gone years without touching a woman. Waking up and thinking of you, falling asleep and wishing you were there, it’s been distracting, tiresome, and goddamn infuriating, but I wouldn’t give you up for the world.”

“All I can think about is seeing you smile and trying to be the reason you are.” This time his warm mouth meets the soft flesh above my panties. “Trying to water those goddamn flowers just enough so I can watch your face light up when you get home.” He bites the edge of my thong, snapping it against my skin. “Making you come just to hear my name dripping from that smart mouth of yours.”

“Ry, do you like doing that?” “Do I like eating pussy?” His tongue slides against the length of me, the fabric of my underwear creating a delicious friction against my clit. “What if I told you that every morning we had breakfast together, I thought about throwing you on the kitchen island and making a meal out of you instead? Or that every time you wore one of your pretty dresses, I was dreaming about lifting the hem over my head, falling to my knees, and tasting my roommate’s perfect little cunt.”

“So, sure, you could say I like eating pussy, but that’s not what you’re really asking, is it? Ask me the real question, Blue. You want to know if I like eating yours.”

“Ask me, Ind.” His mouth hovers over me. “Or would my valedictorian like a hands-on lesson instead?” He places a soft, appreciative kiss on my bare clit. “A mouth-on lesson.”

“Fuck, Ryan.” “Say it again.” “What?” “My name. Say it again. I want to hear it while my tongue is buried inside of you. I want you to remember you’re mine. So, say my name again.”

“Goddamn,” he exhales in admiration. “You should see the picture you painted in my head. You’re going to look so pretty on your knees for me.” He pulls his fingers from my mouth. “But first, lie down and come on my tongue like the obedient girl I know you are.”

Ryan licks my arousal, tasting it from his lips with a proud smile and a slap of my ass. “My favorite kind of mess.”

“Look how good your hand looks around me, Ind.”

“Oh, fuck,” he curses, and I can’t help but smile around him, sensing this controlled man on the brink of becoming unhinged. “Your tongue looks even better.”

“Goddamn,” he exhales. “I knew you were going to look so pretty on your knees, Blue.”

“So goddamn tight,” I grit out, slowly filling her. “Ryan, it’s too much.” “You can take it,”

“I knew it,” I say breathlessly against her ear. “Knew what?” “That you were meant for me. Do you feel how perfectly we fit together?”

At some point, I should probably tell her that my love language is whichever one she wants it to be so she can stop guessing. I’ll make sure that girl feels loved however she needs.

“I didn’t know Ryan knew sign language,” Caroline says next to me. “He doesn’t. He didn’t, I mean. I didn’t know he was learning.” My stare is locked on him. “I offered to teach him, but we hadn’t gotten around to starting yet.” I take a sharp inhale, attempting to compose myself. “My dad is deaf.”

“Oh, Indy.” She places her hand on top of mine, the both of us watching Ryan and Sarah. “That man loves you. That right there is quiet love.”

I should’ve reminded her that it took her absence from his life for him to understand what a gift he had, while it was her presence in mine that opened my eyes to everything I’ve ever wanted.

“I want you, Indy. I want us. I want our little life we’ve built even when we thought we were pretending. I want you in our house because you’ve made it a home. I want your mess and your chaos. I want your genuine smiles, the ones you wear when you’re around my sister, the hockey team, and me. I want you happy, and I want to be the reason you are. I want you to choose me.”

“I love you.” Her brown eyes bounce between mine. “If you would’ve answered a single one of my calls this week, I could’ve told you exactly what I told Alex. My home, my heart, all of it, is with you. There was never a moment of doubt for me, Ryan. The only reason you heard me crying on the phone after that conversation is because I finally felt free, and more than that, I felt clarity. I don’t want you to change. I don’t need you to shout from rooftops or show me off. I just need your quiet love because those moments are the loudest declarations I’ve ever heard. I want you for exactly who you are. I’m in love with you, Ryan Shay, and I don’t need the entire world to know that for it to be true.”

“I’m sorry someone let you believe you were hard to love, because, Blue, it’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done.” I shake my head. “God, I love you. I think in a way, I’ve loved you since our first breakfast together. You brought me back to life, Ind, and I will love you as long as you’ll let me.” “Promise?” Pulling her in, I take her lips with mine. “I’ll even add it to the fridge.”

“Unfortunately, Indy’s old friends are your friends. You’ll be around, I get that. But if you ever, and I mean ever make her cry again, I will do everything in my power to make your life a living hell. My face will pop up everywhere you go. You will see me in your goddamn nightmares. I will make myself a daily reminder that you fumbled the best thing you’ll ever have in your fucking life. Got it?”

“Says the guy who camped outside of my place of work to talk to a girl who wants nothing to do with him. But let me make this clear, when it comes to her, I have no issue ruining my reputation. I will burn the world down to protect her and I’ll proudly wave the match, so everyone knows I’m the one who did it.”

“You know that jersey you’ve got with my last name on it? When you see it hanging there in your closet, let it serve as a reminder to you, that soon enough, it’ll be her last name too.”

Daily update—I’m in love with your brother. Stevie Best daily update I’ve ever received.